RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

So far we have unexplained infertility. I haven't had an HSG yet but the RE recommended that I have one during the next cycle and then do IUI the same cycle, esp. since the HSG can help increase fertility. Does this sound reasonable?

OK here are my million questions:
1. Medicated or unmedicated? I am ovulating on my own.
2. Medicated cycle with Clomid has about an 8-9% chance of resulting in multiples according to the RE - does this sound right?
3. Has anyone's medicated IUI resulted in multiples? If so, how many? RE said 98% were twins.
4. RE suggested starting with 75 mg of Clomid, or 2 pills of Letrozole. Which is better? RE seems to lean towards Clomid.

Anything else I should be concerned about?

Thanks for humoring all these random questions.

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

Yes it sounds very reasonable to me. The HSG will tell you whether or not your tubes are blocked. If they're blocked doing IUI's is not goning to be beneficial. I actually had to insist to my former RE to do an hsg because I didnt wanna waste time doing IUI's if there was a tubal issue. Luckily there wasnt so I felt more comfortable moving forward with the IUI's. Very important in this whole IF journey to be your own advocate. But good for your RE for recommending the hsg

1. Medicated or unmedicated? I am ovulating on my own.

I'm pretty sure that if you dont have any O'ing issues then the doctors like to do a few unmedicated cycles before moving on to meds. I did one cycle of unmedicated IUI which was a BFN and moved straight on to clomid. Though I know many women who have done unmedicated cycles and went on to have successful pregnancies.

2. Medicated cycle with Clomid has about an 8-9% chance of resulting in multiples according to the RE - does this sound right?

I actually thought it was a tad less than that but he's the doctor so he knows better than me LOL

3. Has anyone's medicated IUI resulted in multiples? If so, how many? RE said 98% were twins.

Both my medicated IUI's resulted in singletons not multiples.

4. RE suggested starting with 75 mg of Clomid, or 2 pills of Letrozole. Which is better? RE seems to lean towards Clomid.

Personally I responded great to clomid.

Best of luck to you

Message edited 8/12/2009 4:02:53 PM.

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

Thanks so much for your input, Daisy32!!

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

Posted by lu235

Thanks so much for your input, Daisy32!!

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

I also have unexplained infertility and just started my first clomid/IUI cycle! I am also doing HSG on cd8 of the same cycle.

OK here are my million questions:
1. Medicated or unmedicated? I am ovulating on my own.
I also ovulate on my own, but never predictable. I often ovulate late in my cycle also. For these reasons, we are going with medicated.

2. Medicated cycle with Clomid has about an 8-9% chance of resulting in multiples according to the RE - does this sound right?
I don't remember the percentage increases, but it is true that clomid may cause you to release more eggs which could result in multiples.

3. Has anyone's medicated IUI resulted in multiples? If so, how many? RE said 98% were twins.
N/A

4. RE suggested starting with 75 mg of Clomid, or 2 pills of Letrozole. Which is better? RE seems to lean towards Clomid.
I am starting on 100mg clomid.



I'm just starting this cycle so am not an expert by any means!

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

When I started with IUIs they were medicated even though I ovulated on my own. It was to produce more, larger eggs. I did clomid 50mg. I eventually moved on to injectibles.

I think the rate he said for multiples is what I read.

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

I too have uneplained infertility. The HSG will tell you if there is a blockage and I have ben told that your pretty fertile afterwards cause your pipes have been "cleaned"


1. Medicated or unmedicated? I am ovulating on my own.
I too O on my own, but Clomid is supposed to help egg deelopment as well as increase the possiblity of more than 1 egg, mostly 2 every once in a while 3.

2. Medicated cycle with Clomid has about an 8-9% chance of resulting in multiples according to the RE - does this sound right?
If you tried on your own or unmedicated IUI's then the extra egg increases your chances.

3. Has anyone's medicated IUI resulted in multiples? If so, how many? RE said 98% were twins.
n/a

4. RE suggested starting with 75 mg of Clomid, or 2 pills of Letrozole. Which is better? RE seems to lean towards Clomid.
I was on 100 of Clomid for a month, got just the one follie, then I did 150, still got just the one good follie. (then I took a month off). The Dr brought me back down to 100 since the 150 wasn't working any better and this month I had 3 great follies.

I figure if I can't get PG with one egg for almost 2 years, then I hope my odds are better with the 3!!!

Good Luck

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

HSG is a must when doing IF. It eliminates the concern if your tubes are blocked.

1. Medicated or unmedicated? I am ovulating on my own.

I was ovulating on my own and all my IUIs were medicated.

2. Medicated cycle with Clomid has about an 8-9% chance of resulting in multiples according to the RE - does this sound right?

Not sure about Clomid b/c I started with injectibles on the 1st cycle.

3. Has anyone's medicated IUI resulted in multiples? If so, how many? RE said 98% were twins.

I'm preggo now with one. :)

4. RE suggested starting with 75 mg of Clomid, or 2 pills of Letrozole. Which is better? RE seems to lean towards Clomid.

I've heard Clomid is better.

Good Luck

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

Def do the HSG sooner rather than later.

I ovulate on my own but doing the meds increases your odds of an egg fertilizing. I did Clomid on almost all my IUI's. Four years ago I had 8 eggs with clomid and ended up with 6 eggs fertilizing, I had to have a deduction as the doctors didn't think I would be able to carry 6 babies, I reduced to 3 and ended up with one beautiful little boy. Since last October I had 3 IUI's and they reduced the clomid because we didn't want what happened in 2004 to happen again. So, I took 1/2 pill of clomid for 3 days and still produced 3 to 4 eggs. I got pregnant with all 3 of those IUI's but they resulted in miscarriages. So now I'm doing my first IVF. Hopefully this helps you with your decision to do medication or not to do the meds. Good luck to you.

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

Thanks for all of your advice! I think I am leaning towards a medicated cycle. I wanted to get a grip on the possibility of multiples so that I'm prepared if that happens. Thanks again!!!

Re: RE recommended IUI - I have some questions

1. Medicated or unmedicated? I am ovulating on my own.
I would do unmedicated first if you are ovulating on your own. No reason to mess with fertility meds if you don't need them.

2. Medicated cycle with Clomid has about an 8-9% chance of resulting in multiples according to the RE - does this sound right?
I think those odds sound about rigth.

3. Has anyone's medicated IUI resulted in multiples? If so, how many? RE said 98% were twins.
My first IUI I had 4 follies, and got pregnant with one, but I miscarried.
My second IUI I had 3 follies and got pregnant with twins. They are now 7.5 months old.

4. RE suggested starting with 75 mg of Clomid, or 2 pills of Letrozole. Which is better? RE seems to lean towards Clomid.
I have no experience with Letrozole.
I conceived using 150 mg Clomid + trigger.

Good luck